Ms. H. Ưu Adrơng applies various AI tools to teach Vietnamese to her students.
PHOTO: NGOC LONG
On December 13th, the Ministry of Education and Training, in collaboration with RMIT University Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), organized the "Creative Teachers with Digital Technology and AI" event. Teachers from across the country gathered to share methods and models for applying AI in administrative and pedagogical work, aiming to reduce workload, increase student learning effectiveness, and provide many other benefits. Among them were many teachers from mountainous regions who were passionate about bringing technology to their students.
Simple operation, high efficiency.
Speaking to Thanh Nien newspaper on the sidelines of the event, Ms. Huu Adrong, a teacher at Y Jut Primary School ( Dak Lak ), recounted that she brought a "teaching assistant" to the event to teach Vietnamese to the ethnic minority students – who make up 100% of the school's student body. This character resembles a female teacher, wears traditional Ede clothing, and speaks fluent Ede and Vietnamese. Notably, this character was created in just two weeks, primarily using AI tools.
"I use AI to build the characters and make them move and act. And because there are currently no tools to translate the Ede language, I will read and record the text myself, then use AI to add voiceovers to the videos to create learning materials. I also upload the videos to Google Sites so that children can learn at home," Ms. Adrơng shared.
"The most difficult aspect of the process wasn't the technology, but the language, because many Ede words aren't easy to translate into Vietnamese. That's why I had to consult dictionaries, elders in the village, and Ede language teachers to ensure I was conveying the knowledge correctly," the female teacher said, adding that she always believed teachers should be interactive educators, not AI.
Ethnic minority students in a chemistry lesson using AI.
PHOTO: QUYNH ANH
After implementation, this approach is yielding many positive results, according to Ms. Adrơng. From a classroom where many students couldn't communicate simply in Vietnamese and less than 25% were interested in learning Vietnamese, the interest rate has now risen to over 75%, and the percentage of students failing to meet requirements has significantly decreased, from over 20% to less than 5%, according to the teacher.
"My future direction is to continue applying AI to teach the Ede language and spread the culture of my ethnic group," added Adrong.
Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen, a teacher at Tra Van Ethnic Boarding Primary and Secondary School (Da Nang City), is helping her students access digital technology while also creating opportunities for them to learn more about "Ancient Cinnamon Trees" - a 162-year-old heritage site in Tra Van commune - thanks to AI. Specifically, Ms. Yen designed a five-step model to help students create digital postcards and heritage maps of their hometown's cinnamon gardens, "fulfilling the students' desire to engage with digital technology."
"Tra Van is also famous for many cultural attractions such as the Water Trough Festival, the Three-Headed Pig Festival, the Pig Beauty Queen Festival, the Chicken Beauty Queen Festival, and it is also home to many medicinal plants such as Ngoc Linh ginseng, Nam ginseng, water ginseng, and Gynostemma pentaphyllum. My goal is to continue supporting the students in digitizing local products and culture so that experiential learning activities and local education become more interesting," Ms. Yen said.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen guides her students in digitizing local products and culture using AI tools.
PHOTO: NGOC LONG
The female teacher also confided that she fondly remembers the nighttime lessons, where the young students had to go outside the classroom to "catch" a Wi-Fi signal due to unstable connections. Nevertheless, their eyes always lit up when they were able to create their own multimedia products to promote local heritage. This is the "miracle" that AI has brought to these students in mountainous areas who would never have had the chance to touch a tablet or smartphone, Ms. Yen said.
Untangling many difficult points
AI also helps students improve their English skills, especially since the current high school chemistry curriculum requires them to name all elements in English, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh, a chemistry teacher at N'Trang Long Ethnic Boarding High School (Dak Lak).
Ms. Quynh Anh pointed out the reality at her school: 99% of the students are from ethnic minority groups and face limitations in English. Furthermore, paper-based learning materials are ineffective, while the students lack computers with internet access for self-study, and teachers struggle to provide individual support. To address this, the female teacher designed e-learning lessons with AI-powered virtual characters guiding the students in pronouncing each element in English.
One challenge was the cost. Ms. Quynh Anh shared that she chose the Vidzno platform because it offered free video creation, but because the app limited the number of users, she created multiple accounts, accumulating small amounts to build the comprehensive video library she has today. On the positive side, there are many online teacher communities on Facebook applying AI in education, and people are very willing to support and answer the questions of this teacher from the mountainous region.
"In parallel with providing learning materials, I also guided the students in using the ELSA app to get their pronunciation scored. The results were very clear: after just one week, 93% of students could pronounce more than 90% of element names correctly, an increase of 57% compared to before. Their test scores also increased from an average of 7 to 9 points. Most said that this E-Learning lesson was easy to understand, helped them become more interested, and improved their pronunciation," Ms. Quynh Anh recounted.
Applying AI in e-learning lessons is how Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh helps her students improve their English skills in chemistry.
PHOTO: NGOC LONG
"After the section on elements, I'm continuing to develop lessons to help students name inorganic and organic compounds in English. These lessons don't require internet and can be used for many years, so they are very sustainable," added Ms. Quynh Anh.
According to Ms. Pham Thi Tuong Thuy, a teacher at Duc Binh Tay Kindergarten (Dak Lak), AI also helps make sex education activities more visual and therefore more effective. This application is even more important for 4-5 year old children in rural areas, where parents lack connection with schools in raising children, especially on the sensitive issue of sex education.
Based on this reality, Ms. Thuy implemented two solutions. Firstly, she revamped sex education lessons using AI to engage children with poems, songs, stories, videos, and situational exercises. Secondly, she collaborated with parents to allow children to access and experience AI-integrated learning products such as worksheets and interactive games. The activities were divided into three sequential stages, from basic education to participation in activities and evaluation of results.
Ms. Pham Thi Tuong Thuy (wearing an ao dai) visualizes sex education lessons using AI to spark interest in preschool children.
PHOTO: NGOC LONG
Commenting on the AI products displayed at the event, Dr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Management Staff (Ministry of Education and Training), said that the most valuable aspects were the technological depth, the humanistic spirit, and the creativity of the teachers in overcoming geographical obstacles. "I believe that today's initiatives will become 'nuclei' that spread strongly within each subject group, each school, and each locality," Dr. Duc said.
First-ever awarding of the "Pioneering in AI Application in Education" prize.
Within the framework of the event, the "Pioneering in AI Application in Education" awards ceremony was also held. First prizes were awarded to Mr. Tran Quoc Quan, teacher at Tay Son High School (Gia Lai); Mr. Nguyen Huy Tuan, teacher at Dong Tien Primary School (Phu Tho); Mr. Nguyen Minh Ly, teacher at Nguyen Chi Thanh High School (Ho Chi Minh City); Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, teacher at Muong Than High School (Lai Chau); and Ms. Quang Thi Hong Quyen, teacher at Muong Dun Kindergarten (Dien Bien).
In addition, the organizing committee also awarded 8 second prizes, 8 third prizes, and 14 consolation prizes out of 7,700 entries. Among them, Ms. Phan Thi Tam from Le Quy Don High School - Tan Mai (Dong Nai) won second prize; Mr. Nguyen Nhu Phung from Tra Lan 1 Primary School (Nghe An) won third prize; and Ms. Huu Adrong and Ms. Pham Thi Tuong Thuy both received consolation prizes.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thay-co-mien-dat-kho-dung-ai-giai-con-khat-cong-nghe-so-cho-hoc-tro-185251213165316964.htm
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